A machine shop is going to cut the threads, not roll them which will introduce imperfections that you're trying to get away from. I'm not sure if the stock pin threads are rolled or cut but it might be something worth looking into.

If you do go that route, have your friend make more than 2 if you think people will buy them. Set up is everything in machining. Making 10 isn't going to be that different than making 2.

Well if you're going to go that far, you might as well replace the stock shrouds with 1" thick wire to ensure those don't break either. With all due respect, I think you're worrying about this a bit too much. Just purchase and install the new style pins and go sailing. I think it's safe to say (depending on what year boat you have) that you're chances of one of the bows breaking off forward of the front crossbar are far greater than your shroud pin breaking if properly installed!

Hmmm, one inch shrouds, why didn't I think of that. My current hulls are 1990's ( fourth H-18 I've owned) so far during 28 years of sailing the 18's, the count is 5 pins broken ( the first was the second year I owned an 18, shrould tension rookie mistake). and no hulls snapped, or any other rigging failure for that matter.( My shrouds get replaced regularly, and at least give me some warning signs of fatigue) I am very pleased with the rest of the engineering on the 18. The next 3 were all in double trapped conditions with adult crew. When the pin snaps, the trap wires just pick you up and drop you on the tramp. but the last pin failure was with two 10 year olds on the boat, and one was on the lee side playing in the hull spray. He just ended up under the sail. I would like to spend a lot more time with kids on my boat, and I just thought that I need a greater margin of reliability than the current pins provide... Since the 14's and the 16's use the same pin with no, or at least far less problems, I think moving up one bolt dimension might just solve the problem on the 18. Since I know that a lot of engineering types weigh in frequently on these threads. I was hoping someone could help me find what I was looking for instead of having to make it from scratch.

Thank you foursail.....that's a great lead. I called my local dealer and he is looking around for me...I also called Murray's Marine...they don't currently stock them...maybe I can find them in a dealers old stock somewhere. I may be able to have them made cheaper, but that's a great place to start

More like 45 degrees. You want the pin to work like a hinge towards the shroud tang... in the best setup.

It all depends on the mast rake and relative position of the shroud tang. All of this is "best case". We have the twist toggle in the system to help take the side load off the pin. We just TRY to set up this way to reduce possible side-loading of the anchor pin.

I did a quick illustration that may help.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I just inspected/replaced my anchor pins yesterday. Sure enough, one was bent. When asking my local dealer about the best way to reinstall them, he told me to leave them just a tiny bit loose so they could rotate slightly. According to this diagram, it looks like they should be tightened all the way, in the fixed position shown. Just to clarify, they should be completely tightened/not able to rotate at all...right??

Wow I was the last poster in this thread barking about how to just go with the current pins. Well after yesterday evenings failed pin mast drop - an (old) broken pin, I have a hankering to make my own (and I have 2 boats x 2 pins x $30 times the square root of no job). Any success on the McMaster parts? Otherwise I'll make them on the lathe maybe 3/8 if I can. Tapped threads, strong SS.

Started a long time ago maybe when someone had them oriented the wrong way. See the rust:

Oh, no damage and there were 2 18's out that eve, so we got a tow from the other about 2 miles. This cat has been in lots of wind over 20k in the past years and the pin gave way in 11knots!

A machine shop is going to cut the threads, not roll them which will introduce imperfections that you're trying to get away from. I'm not sure if the stock pin threads are rolled or cut but it might be something worth looking into.

This is actually quite the opposite. Cut threads introduce chatter and cuts that can tear. Rolled threads are better.

Original pin threads were cut... current ones are rolled. They are also of a higher grade of stainless.

I know of no failures of a current anchor pin... since something like 2007?

I think most failure comes from improper alignment and tension, not faulty product.

Just a note, my other intact pin is bent in the direction of a properly aligned pin. Another note, I twisted mine to the correct direction AFTER they had been used in another direction for who-knows-how-long, maybe 20 years. Probably not the best thing to do.

I'll see if I can get "Genmar Star" to send it to you. It may be trash now, he was pretty pissed when he dismasted while delivering the boat to a rental customer. Not as pissed as he was after discovering the renter had overloaded the wings and cracked the hulls!